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		<title>Conservation news</title>
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		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/russell-taylor-robin-naidoo-lisa-steel-michael-knight-steven-a-osofsky/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2026 04:47:39 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<title>Russell Taylor / Robin Naidoo / Lisa Steel / Michael Knight / Steven A. Osofsky Archives</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/by/russell-taylor-robin-naidoo-lisa-steel-michael-knight-steven-a-osofsky/</link>
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				<item>
					<title>Archived camera-trap images bring Thailand&#8217;s tapirs into focus</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/archived-camera-trap-images-bring-thailands-tapirs-into-focus/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/archived-camera-trap-images-bring-thailands-tapirs-into-focus/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Mar 2026 04:47:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Naira Rao]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/05043547/9424281107_7253851ccd_o-scaled-e1772685430760-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315228</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Camera Trapping, Endangered, Endangered Species, and Mammals]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Archived camera-trapping images have revealed a new stronghold for Asian tapirs in Khlong Seang–Khao Sok Forest Complex, in southern Thailand. Mongabay’s Carolyn Cowan reports that a recent study found camera-trap “bycatch” data — images of species that researchers hadn’t intended to photograph — can be used to monitor Asian tapirs (Tapirus indicus). The camera traps [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Archived camera-trapping images have revealed a new stronghold for Asian tapirs in Khlong Seang–Khao Sok Forest Complex, in southern Thailand. Mongabay’s Carolyn Cowan reports that a recent study found camera-trap “bycatch” data — images of species that researchers hadn’t intended to photograph — can be used to monitor Asian tapirs (Tapirus indicus). The camera traps were originally set up in Khlong Seang–Khao Sok between 2016 and 2017 to monitor Asian black bears (Ursus thibetanus), and sun bears (Helarctos malayanus). Tapirs weren’t a target because, historically, they’ve mostly been surveyed visually, with researchers walking a path through the forest and recording any tapirs they spot along the way. Modeling based on images from the Thai forest complex suggests it could hold up to 436 tapirs, significantly more than the previous estimate of fewer than 250 individuals for all of Thailand and Myanmar combined. But researchers urge caution in interpreting this number, as tapirs may be unevenly distributed across the forest complex, suggesting a smaller actual number. Globally, the species is endangered, with fewer than 2,500 mature individuals remaining, according to a 2014 assessment. Adult Asian tapirs can weigh up to 350 kilograms (772 pounds), making them the largest of the four tapir species and the only one found outside of Latin America. In addition to being nocturnal and shy, said ecologist Naparat Suttidate from Walailak University in Thailand, Asian tapirs “are [a] large, slow-reproducing species requiring large areas of specific habitat [and] play a vital role as seed dispersers, helping to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/archived-camera-trap-images-bring-thailands-tapirs-into-focus/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Emotional and psychological stresses beleaguer conservation professionals (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/emotional-and-psychological-stresses-beleaguer-conservation-professionals-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/emotional-and-psychological-stresses-beleaguer-conservation-professionals-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 19:22:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nerissa ChaoVik Mohan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/27125153/c.-USFWS-Pacific-Greater_sage-grouse_surveys_in_southwestern_Idaho_52848937361-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315223</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Commentary, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Activism, Gender and Conservation, Health, Psychology, and Social Justice]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Nested within the current biodiversity crisis sits an equally complex and concerning human crisis, but one that receives even less attention: the poor mental health and well-being of the conservation workforce. The scale of this problem is clearly set out in a recent Mongabay article. In a sector that has always relied on the passion [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Nested within the current biodiversity crisis sits an equally complex and concerning human crisis, but one that receives even less attention: the poor mental health and well-being of the conservation workforce. The scale of this problem is clearly set out in a recent Mongabay article. In a sector that has always relied on the passion and commitment of individuals, where one’s value is measured by selfless dedication to the cause — which can manifest as an expectation to prioritize work above all else, take on unpaid or poorly paid work, accept poor working conditions, or compromise on personal safety — staff well-being has never been a priority. This unhealthy culture of self-sacrifice provides the context within which sector-wide stressors are impacting the well-being of the workforce. The growing ecological crisis in itself is having a significant impact on well-being, and this is set out powerfully in the Mongabay article. In addition to this, the changing funding and geopolitical landscape, which is deprioritizing conservation and climate action, further increases instability and uncertainty, putting further pressure on the conservation sector. Working in conservation isn&#8217;t all rainbows. Photo illustration of a rainforest rainbow in Malaysian Borneo by Rhett Butler/Mongabay. The impact of all of these chronic stressors are emotional and psychological distress, poor mental health and burnout, increasing the risk that conservation professionals will give up on their aspirations and leave the profession. Recent research found 27% of conservationists are suffering from moderate or severe distress, and women face particular challenges as conservationists,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/emotional-and-psychological-stresses-beleaguer-conservation-professionals-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Across South America, canopy bridges evolve as a lifeline for tree-dwelling wildlife</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/across-south-america-canopy-bridges-evolve-as-a-lifeline-for-tree-dwelling-wildlife/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/across-south-america-canopy-bridges-evolve-as-a-lifeline-for-tree-dwelling-wildlife/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 18:23:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Luís Patriani]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Xavier Bartaburu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/04181943/05020156-1-1-e1770214683835-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315216</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Monkeys, Primates, Sloths, Wildilfe, Wildlife Conservation, and Wildlife Corridors]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Throughout the Amazon Rainforest, forest fragmentation represents an escalating and existential threat to the preservation of fauna. Driven by intensive economic development, the expansion of agribusiness and large-scale infrastructure projects — such as highways, railways, power transmission lines and gas pipelines — continues carrying profound environmental risks. Foremost among these ecological pressures are the geographic [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Throughout the Amazon Rainforest, forest fragmentation represents an escalating and existential threat to the preservation of fauna. Driven by intensive economic development, the expansion of agribusiness and large-scale infrastructure projects — such as highways, railways, power transmission lines and gas pipelines — continues carrying profound environmental risks. Foremost among these ecological pressures are the geographic isolation of animal populations and high mortality rates resulting from roadkill and other related accidents. Arboreal mammal species, including primates, sloths and porcupines, are among the most affected by this confinement, as their survival is strictly dependent on canopy connectivity. Paradoxically, these specialized tree-dwelling animals often benefit the least from standard environmental mitigation measures, such as the implementation of artificial crossings. To address critical gaps in understanding animal behavior and habitat use, biologists Justin Santiago and Lindsey Swierk from the State University of New York at Binghamton, U.S., conducted pioneering research in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon. The study site was located at the Amazon Conservatory for Tropical Studies (ACTS) Field Station within Napo-Sucusari Biological Reserve, a 1,674-hectare (4,137-acre) protected area near the city of Iquitos, in the northern region of Loreto. The researchers deployed a sophisticated system of canopy bridges that used a combination of nets, thick ropes and platforms situated at varying heights. These elements were integrated to form extensive suspended corridors designed to facilitate safe movement for wildlife from one treetop to another. A specialist installs a camera on a tree connected to the canopy bridge system in the Peruvian Amazon.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/across-south-america-canopy-bridges-evolve-as-a-lifeline-for-tree-dwelling-wildlife/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/across-south-america-canopy-bridges-evolve-as-a-lifeline-for-tree-dwelling-wildlife/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Attention is scarce. Storytelling strategy matters more than ever</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/attention-is-scarce-storytelling-strategy-matters-more-than-ever/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/attention-is-scarce-storytelling-strategy-matters-more-than-ever/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 16:46:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/23172451/1E282981-DD74-427D-B44C-0F0CD6609E38_1_102_o-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315215</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Environmental Journalism, Interviews With Environmental Journalists, and Journalism]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Environmental journalism has long struggled with a practical problem: how to make distant ecological change feel relevant to people whose daily lives are shaped by more immediate concerns. Scientific reports document trends in temperature, biodiversity and land use with increasing precision, yet such findings often fail to travel far beyond specialist audiences. Video, once expensive [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Environmental journalism has long struggled with a practical problem: how to make distant ecological change feel relevant to people whose daily lives are shaped by more immediate concerns. Scientific reports document trends in temperature, biodiversity and land use with increasing precision, yet such findings often fail to travel far beyond specialist audiences. Video, once expensive and difficult to distribute, is now ubiquitous. Today the constraint is attention. Content that reaches large audiences usually foregrounds human experience rather than abstract risk. One response has been to anchor environmental reporting in lived realities. Instead of beginning with emissions curves or species counts, journalists start with households, workers or communities navigating change. This approach repositions the science so climate change becomes visible as relocation, lost income, altered routines and disrupted schooling. The method carries risks, including the temptation to substitute anecdote for evidence. Used carefully, however, it can broaden understanding without sacrificing accuracy. Lucía Torres, who leads video production at Mongabay, has built much of her work around this premise. In reporting on a Mexican coastal town forced to move inland after years of storms and encroaching seas, she focused on residents’ relationships with place and each other. The aim was to document gradual disruption rather than stage dramatic suffering. Time spent off camera proved as important as filming itself. Conversations, shared meals and repeated visits helped establish trust, yielding testimony that felt less performative and more reflective of ordinary life under strain. Her broader advice to younger journalists is pragmatic. Technical skill&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/attention-is-scarce-storytelling-strategy-matters-more-than-ever/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Colombia’s coffee industry well placed but wary as EU deforestation rule looms</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/colombias-coffee-industry-well-placed-but-wary-as-eu-deforestation-rule-looms/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/colombias-coffee-industry-well-placed-but-wary-as-eu-deforestation-rule-looms/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 16:23:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mie Hoejris Dahl]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandrapopescu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[global forests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Agriculture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deforestation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[EUDR]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[European Union]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Farming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forest clearing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Loss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Global Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law Enforcement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rainforest Deforestation]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/04114305/Juan-Nieves5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315196</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Colombia, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Coffee, Commodity agriculture, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Farming, Global Trade, Law Enforcement, Organic Farming, Rainforest Deforestation, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[CIÉNAGA, Colombia — A handful of men swarm around a coffee collection center in the city of Ciénaga, shouldering burlap sacks of coffee as they move in and out of the mill. Ciénaga is a port town in the foothills of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the world’s highest coastal mountain range, and is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[CIÉNAGA, Colombia — A handful of men swarm around a coffee collection center in the city of Ciénaga, shouldering burlap sacks of coffee as they move in and out of the mill. Ciénaga is a port town in the foothills of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the world’s highest coastal mountain range, and is known locally as the coffee capital of the Sierra Nevada region. “We hope EUDR will be to our benefit,” says Silver Polo Palomino, a coffee grower and representative of the Asociación de Agricultores Orgánicos de La Secreta (AGROSEC), a local organic coffee growers’ association in Ciénaga, speaking over the roar of the mill. Polo is one of many producers in Colombia who say they’re uncertain — and increasingly nervous — about what the implementation of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) will mean for their livelihoods. The regulation, set to go into force at the end of this year, will ban the import into the EU market of seven key commodities linked to deforestation. Coffee is among them. But Colombia, the world’s No. 3 coffee producer, is well prepared for the EUDR and better positioned than coffee exporters in many parts of Africa and Asia, several experts told Mongabay. Despite a fragmented sector dominated by small-scale farmers, Colombia’s coffee industry is highly organized, largely through the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia (FNC), which represents more than 500,000 coffee-growing families. The FNC has developed a centralized georeferenced database, the Coffee Information System (SICA), designed to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/colombias-coffee-industry-well-placed-but-wary-as-eu-deforestation-rule-looms/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Proposed shark net near Club Med resort in South Africa sparks conservation clash</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/proposed-shark-net-near-club-med-resort-in-south-africa-sparks-conservation-clash/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/proposed-shark-net-near-club-med-resort-in-south-africa-sparks-conservation-clash/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 15:18:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Victoria Schneider]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/04140820/image-de-banniere-2-23-2026-shark-nets_dead-shark-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315207</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and South Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Environment, Governance, Government, Ocean, Whale Sharks, Whales, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On Feb. 13, a juvenile humpback dolphin was caught and killed in one of the many nets strung up off the coast of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province to protect beachgoers from sharks. The incident, near the city of Richards Bay on the country&#8217;s eastern coast, was a blow for South Africa’s population of Indian ocean [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On Feb. 13, a juvenile humpback dolphin was caught and killed in one of the many nets strung up off the coast of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province to protect beachgoers from sharks. The incident, near the city of Richards Bay on the country&#8217;s eastern coast, was a blow for South Africa’s population of Indian ocean humpback dolphins, which has dropped to fewer than 500 in recent decades. Shark nets, installed together with baited hooks called drum lines, aim to reduce the number of sharks that could come into contact with, and possibly harm, humans. Once entangled in these nets, which can run hundreds of meters wide, sharks have little chance of survival — nor do other species like humpback dolphins (Sousa plumbea). In the wake of the February incident, scientists working to conserve humpback dolphins issued a letter of opposition to a proposal to install another such net at a popular beach farther down the coast. Tinley Manor is a one-and-a-half-hour drive from Richards Bay, and has emerged as a flashpoint in the debate about shark nets. Municipal authorities there are proposing installing a shark net at the public beach, in view of the new Club Med luxury resort being built right next to it. The KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board (KZNSB), as the authority responsible for bather safety in the province, says it’s acting to safeguard beachgoers, whose numbers are expected to rise significantly with the opening of the resort later this year. Indian Ocean humpback dolphins. Image courtesy of Bridget&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/proposed-shark-net-near-club-med-resort-in-south-africa-sparks-conservation-clash/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Falling Amazon river flows trigger reality check at Belo Monte power plant</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/falling-amazon-river-flows-trigger-reality-check-at-belo-monte-power-plant/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/falling-amazon-river-flows-trigger-reality-check-at-belo-monte-power-plant/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 12:16:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rafael Spuldar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Alexandre de Santi]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/04115252/AP24255823406395-scaled-1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315146</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Conservation, Amazon Drought, Amazon Rainforest, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Drought, Ecology, Energy, Environment, Hydroelectric Power, Hydropower, Indigenous Groups, Indigenous Peoples, Rivers, Water, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Brazil bet big on a mega river dam using old data, but climate change is leaving its massive turbines high and dry.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Brazil’s largest Amazon hydropower plants are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate change, and Belo Monte may be the clearest warning sign yet. Built on the Xingu River after years of debate over its environmental impacts and the reliability of its energy output, the mega-dam is facing a problem its planners could not solve with engineering: less water. This reality is reflected in two major studies published in late 2025 — one led by Brazil’s water and sanitation agency, ANA, and the other by the federal energy research office, EPE. From different angles, both reports conclude that climate change is fundamentally reshaping the country’s water and energy systems, requiring urgent adaptation — 43.7% of Brazil’s energy comes from hydropower plants. ANA’s report warns that hydropower plants across the Amazon region could lose up to 40% of their generation capacity over the next 20-30 years if planning continues to rely on historical water flow data rather than climate-adjusted projections. The Xingu River Basin in particular will face significantly longer and more intense dry seasons over the coming decades. Maximum river flows could decline by up to 50%, according to the study published in November 2025, while consecutive dry periods — historically around 20 days — may extend to as many as 40 days by the end of the century, with some dry spells lasting up to 150 days. Those numbers look into the future, but the severity of droughts and their impact on Amazon dams are today’s reality. In 2024, during the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/falling-amazon-river-flows-trigger-reality-check-at-belo-monte-power-plant/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Counting bats in the dark</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/counting-bats-in-the-dark/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/counting-bats-in-the-dark/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 08:29:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sam Lee]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/04082745/flying_grey_long_eared_bat-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315194</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[cameras, Conservation Technology, Technology, Technology And Conservation, Wildilfe, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[How do you count and keep track of bats? Advances in videography, including thermal cameras, have made it easier to spot bats. But these animals move fast, travel in big groups and are often found in the dark — making analysis of the data a tough task. Scientists have developed a new software called Thrutracker [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[How do you count and keep track of bats? Advances in videography, including thermal cameras, have made it easier to spot bats. But these animals move fast, travel in big groups and are often found in the dark — making analysis of the data a tough task. Scientists have developed a new software called Thrutracker Analytics that uses traditional computer vision and artificial intelligence to count bats. Watch the latest episode of Then vs Now to learnThis article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/counting-bats-in-the-dark/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Indonesia farmers count the costs as rains wash out Java durian harvest</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indonesia-farmers-count-the-costs-as-rains-wash-out-java-durian-harvest/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indonesia-farmers-count-the-costs-as-rains-wash-out-java-durian-harvest/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 04:23:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[L. Darmawan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/03145626/ganjar6_durian-kromo-banyumas-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315130</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Indonesia, Java, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Adaptation To Climate Change, Agriculture, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Change And Conservation, Climate Change And Extreme Weather, Climate Change And Food, Conservation, Environment, Farming, Food, food security, Impact Of Climate Change, Plants, and Trees]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANYUMAS, Indonesia — The first two months of the year would ordinarily see Ganjar Budi Setiaji hurrying around Plana village’s durian orchard, here in the hilly Javanese district of Banyumas. But on the last Tuesday of January, the 53-year-old father instead appeared restless. “In 2024, I harvested 3,500 durians from 300 trees,” Ganjar told Mongabay [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANYUMAS, Indonesia — The first two months of the year would ordinarily see Ganjar Budi Setiaji hurrying around Plana village’s durian orchard, here in the hilly Javanese district of Banyumas. But on the last Tuesday of January, the 53-year-old father instead appeared restless. “In 2024, I harvested 3,500 durians from 300 trees,” Ganjar told Mongabay Indonesia, a little ruefully. “I’ve had only 500 this year.” The durian fruit farmed by Ganjar is a mainstay in much of Southeast Asia, where its unusual texture and intense flavor profile splits opinion. Last year, Indonesia’s food minister rushed out trade data showing the archipelago’s superior production volume after Malaysia announced the durian as the kingdom’s national fruit, the latest bout of cultural fencing between the neighbors. Here in the Banyumas hills, farmers have propagated their own durian heritage since a hajj pilgrim known locally as Mbah Kromo planted an unusual durian tree in 1985 at his home in Karangsalam village. Ganjar shows drums used in the fermentation process to produce natural fertilizer. Image by L Darmawan/Mongabay Indonesia. A few years later, Mbah Kromo began offering seeds from the parent tree to his neighbors. Appreciation for the Kromo durian grew as the trees flourished across the district. Ganjar slices through a thorny Kromo durian, revealing a sweet fruit with the texture of thick cheesecake, an acquired taste to many. The Kromo durian is also unusual for producing a heavyweight fruit than can, people here say, grow up to 10 kilograms (22 pounds), with a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/indonesia-farmers-count-the-costs-as-rains-wash-out-java-durian-harvest/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Paul Brainerd turned computers into printing presses and fortune into conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/paul-brainerd-turned-computers-into-printing-presses-and-fortune-into-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/paul-brainerd-turned-computers-into-printing-presses-and-fortune-into-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>04 Mar 2026 01:34:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/04012848/Paul-Brainerd-Aldus-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315173</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environment, Obituary, and philanthropy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Paul Brainerd did two things that rarely sit comfortably together. He helped make publishing cheaper and easier, then spent much of what he earned trying to protect the landscapes that were being consumed by growth. He died on February 15th 2026, aged 78, at his home on Bainbridge Island, Washington. In the 1980s, when most [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Paul Brainerd did two things that rarely sit comfortably together. He helped make publishing cheaper and easier, then spent much of what he earned trying to protect the landscapes that were being consumed by growth. He died on February 15th 2026, aged 78, at his home on Bainbridge Island, Washington. In the 1980s, when most people still thought of computers as glorified typewriters, he helped turn them into printing presses. In the 1990s and after, as the Pacific Northwest’s wealth compounded, he tried to steer some of it into civic capacity: organizations that could win fights, not merely stage them. His money came from software. His method was closer to editing. Brainerd was born in Medford, Oregon, in 1947. He studied at the University of Oregon and later earned a master’s degree in journalism at the University of Minnesota. He worked in newspapers, but not in the romantic way. He was drawn to production, workflow, the awkward interface between an idea and a printed page. That interest took him to Atex, a company that built newsroom systems. When Kodak bought Atex and closed a research center in the early 1980s, Brainerd and several engineers found themselves unemployed and restless. In 1984 they founded Aldus in Seattle. Within a year they shipped PageMaker, software that, paired with Apple’s Macintosh and Adobe’s PostScript, let ordinary users design pages that printed as they appeared on screen. Brainerd coined the phrase “desktop publishing,” a neat bit of compression that made a technical shift feel&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/paul-brainerd-turned-computers-into-printing-presses-and-fortune-into-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>How the ‘wrong story’ ends up harming nature, and how we can change it</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/03/how-the-wrong-story-ends-up-harming-nature-and-how-we-can-change-it/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/03/how-the-wrong-story-ends-up-harming-nature-and-how-we-can-change-it/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 22:17:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike DiGirolamo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mikedigirolamo]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/22080836/mt_taranaki_new_zealand_20220316_212734_09_242b_3B_Visual_clip-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=podcasts&#038;p=314727</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Book Reviews, Books, Economics, Environment, Environmental Politics, Featured, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Culture, Indigenous Cultures, Indigenous Peoples, Interviews, Podcast, and Politics]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous scholar Tyson Yunkaporta (Apalech clan (Wik) Lostmob Nungar) joins the Mongabay Newscast to detail the Aboriginal perspectives behind his latest book, Right Story, Wrong Story: Adventures in Indigenous Thinking. The book explains how stories shape society, how they can harm us and the environment, and how they may save our species and the natural [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous scholar Tyson Yunkaporta (Apalech clan (Wik) Lostmob Nungar) joins the Mongabay Newscast to detail the Aboriginal perspectives behind his latest book, Right Story, Wrong Story: Adventures in Indigenous Thinking. The book explains how stories shape society, how they can harm us and the environment, and how they may save our species and the natural world. Yunkaporta explains how Indigenous laws, systems and lore can help us improve modern society, specifically in how humans relate first to the land, then to each other, and why this shapes how we exploit nature and care for it. Identifying the “wrong story” is critical, Yunkaporta explains, to correcting harmful behaviors or ways of governing. Ultimately, it’s a lie, he says. Personified by what he characterizes as narcissistic or selfish behavior, it’s generally seen by those who exploit the natural world at the expense of community well-being. “It&#8217;s a terrible thing to … misrepresent things, make false claims, bear false witness in a way that is bending story, the story that everybody follows. The narratives that people tell that weave together to make a community and to hold a community on the right path that&#8217;s sustainable for thousands of years.” This concept can be seen in the folk tale of Tidalik, the giant frog, who drank up all the water and hoarded it for himself. The animal kingdom came together and made Tidalik laugh. By entertaining him, it forced Tidalik to spit the water back out. Yunkaporta compares this story with the current global&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/podcast/2026/03/how-the-wrong-story-ends-up-harming-nature-and-how-we-can-change-it/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Cameroon’s decade of conflict leaves apes and conservationists in peril</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cameroons-decade-of-conflict-leaves-apes-and-conservationists-in-peril/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cameroons-decade-of-conflict-leaves-apes-and-conservationists-in-peril/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 21:19:11 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Orji Sunday]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/03202651/c.-%C2%A9WCS-Nigeria-Chimp-RCNX1088-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315157</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Cameroon, Central Africa, and Nigeria]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Chimpanzees, Conflict, Conservation, Deforestation, Endangered Species, Environment, Featured, Forests, Gorillas, Human Rights, Mammals, Protected Areas, Rainforests, Tropical Forests, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In August 2025, Louis Nkembi, founder of conservation NGO ERuDeF, was abducted by militia fighters in Cameroon’s Lebialem Highlands. He was held for two weeks, hidden in a secret location inside a forest. “It was a traumatic experience,” he recalls. “I can’t go back to that area until everything is resolved.” Though Nkembi was eventually [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In August 2025, Louis Nkembi, founder of conservation NGO ERuDeF, was abducted by militia fighters in Cameroon’s Lebialem Highlands. He was held for two weeks, hidden in a secret location inside a forest. “It was a traumatic experience,” he recalls. “I can’t go back to that area until everything is resolved.” Though Nkembi was eventually freed, his ordeal sheds light on the risks facing scientists, researchers, eco-guards and conservation workers protecting apes in Cameroon’s conflict hotspots, including the Lebialem Highlands. Lebialem is a global biodiversity hotspot in Cameroon’s southwest, host to dozens of endemic and threatened species, including critically endangered Cross River gorillas (Gorilla gorilla diehli), Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ellioti), African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis), leopards (Panthera pardus), dwarf galagos (Galagoides demidovii) and white-bellied pangolins (Phataginus tricuspis). Camera trap photo of a Cross River gorillas(Gorilla gorilla deihli). Fewer than 300 are believed to survive, making them the rarest great ape subspecies. Image by ©WCS Nigeria. This irresistible richness is the root of Nkembi’s love for Lebialem. He’s spent nearly three decades documenting, surveying and conserving the area through ERuDeF (the Environmental and Rural Development Foundation), which he founded in 1999. In late 2016, Lebialem, like dozens of other parks, reserves and sanctuaries in the region, was swept up in armed conflict that continues to wrack Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions. “It was something that took all of us by surprise,” Ndimuh Bertrand, executive director of Voice of Nature (VoNat), a conservation organization based in the Southwest capital Buea, tells&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/cameroons-decade-of-conflict-leaves-apes-and-conservationists-in-peril/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>No grid, no problem: How Amazon communities built their own power systems</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/no-grid-no-problem-how-amazon-communities-built-their-own-power-systems/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/no-grid-no-problem-how-amazon-communities-built-their-own-power-systems/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 20:38:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/03203628/5.-Embarcando-em-Santarem.-Abril-de-2023.-Credito-Karina-Ninni-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315156</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Communities, Renewable Energy, and Solar Power]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Near Brazil’s Belo Monte dam, one of the world’s largest hydropower projects, the promise of abundant electricity has proved uneven. A household survey of 500 families in Altamira found that 86.8% experienced higher electricity costs after the plant began operating in 2016. Many riverside residents still endure outages, pay steep tariffs or rely on diesel [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Near Brazil’s Belo Monte dam, one of the world’s largest hydropower projects, the promise of abundant electricity has proved uneven. A household survey of 500 families in Altamira found that 86.8% experienced higher electricity costs after the plant began operating in 2016. Many riverside residents still endure outages, pay steep tariffs or rely on diesel generators. As Emilio Moran, a social anthropologist at Michigan State University, observed, “People are right under the transmission line, but the energy doesn’t come from that hydroelectric plant.” For some communities deeper in the Amazon, waiting for grid expansion has yielded little. In the Tapajós-Arapiuns Reserve near Santarém, researchers and residents have instead built small, independent energy networks, reports Mongabay contributor Jorge C. Carrasco. Launched in 2023, the pilot combines solar panels with hydrokinetic turbines placed in river currents. The aim, said project coordinator Lázaro Santos, is straightforward: “that we bring energy to contribute to improving the quality of life of these communities.” For villages long dependent on diesel, the shift has been tangible. One resident recalled that fuel deliveries required multiday boat trips, and electricity was rationed to a few evening hours. Today, a communal freezer runs around the clock, enabling food storage and modest commerce. Internet access and emergency communications have also improved. Crucially, the project trained local technicians to operate and repair the equipment. Three residents in one village can now maintain the system themselves, which builds technical confidence while lowering long-term costs. Instead of relying on distant technicians, communities can resolve&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/no-grid-no-problem-how-amazon-communities-built-their-own-power-systems/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Malaysia renews Lynas Rare Earths&#8217; license for 10 years, orders end to radioactive waste by 2031</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/malaysia-renews-lynas-rare-earths-license-for-10-years-orders-end-to-radioactive-waste-by-2031/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/malaysia-renews-lynas-rare-earths-license-for-10-years-orders-end-to-radioactive-waste-by-2031/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 19:52:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/03195059/AP26061383737428-scaled-e1772567546796-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315153</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Malaysia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Chemicals, Critical Minerals, mine, Mining, Pollution, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s government renewed Australian miner Lynas Rare Earths&#8217; operating license for 10 years but will require it to stop producing radioactive waste by 2031. The Lynas refinery in Malaysia, its first outside China producing minerals that are crucial for high-tech manufacturing, has been operating in central Pahang state since 2012. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s government renewed Australian miner Lynas Rare Earths&#8217; operating license for 10 years but will require it to stop producing radioactive waste by 2031. The Lynas refinery in Malaysia, its first outside China producing minerals that are crucial for high-tech manufacturing, has been operating in central Pahang state since 2012. The company has been e mbroiled in a dispute over radiation from waste that has accumulated at the plant. Science Minister Chang Lih Kang said Monday that any radioactive waste generated within the next five years must be treated and neutralized by extracting thorium or other methods. No new permanent disposal facility will be allowed, he said. The license runs until March 3, 2036, and will be reviewed after five years. It can be revoked if Lynas violates its conditions, Chang said. Environmental groups have long campaigned against the Lynas refinery, demanding that the company export its radioactive waste. They contend that the radioactive elements, which include thorium and uranium among others, were more hazardous after going through mechanical and chemical processes. Lynas was allowed five years to retrofit its facilities and ramp up operations under Chang described as a firm but accelerated timeline. He said lab tests have shown promising results in neutralizing radiation in waste through thorium extraction but scaling the technology to industrial levels typically takes seven to 10 years. “We have not gone against our promise to prevent the accumulation of radioactive waste in Malaysia. We remain committed to that position, and through&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/malaysia-renews-lynas-rare-earths-license-for-10-years-orders-end-to-radioactive-waste-by-2031/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Concern among Indigenous leaders, relief for a few, as Amazon Soy Moratorium falters</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/concern-among-indigenous-leaders-relief-for-a-few-as-amazon-soy-moratorium-falters/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/concern-among-indigenous-leaders-relief-for-a-few-as-amazon-soy-moratorium-falters/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 18:33:45 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rubens Valente]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/03170640/AP23126774484902-scaled-e1772557745837-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315066</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Amazon Agribusiness, Indigenous Peoples and Conservation, and Latin America]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Latin America, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[agribusiness, Agriculture, Amazon Agriculture, Amazon Destruction, Amazon People, Amazon Soy, Deforestation, Drivers Of Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Governance, Indigenous Groups, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Land Conflict, Land Grabbing, Land Rights, Politics, Rainforest Deforestation, Soy, Threats To Rainforests, Threats To The Amazon, and Tropical Deforestation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BRASÍLIA — Indigenous leaders and researchers in Brazil say an end to a key zero-deforestation agreement, the Amazon Soy Moratorium, will increase deforestation around Indigenous lands and encourage the invasion of their territories for soy farming. Already, some are pointing to forest loss advancing near one Indigenous land following efforts to curtail the agreement. Meanwhile, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BRASÍLIA — Indigenous leaders and researchers in Brazil say an end to a key zero-deforestation agreement, the Amazon Soy Moratorium, will increase deforestation around Indigenous lands and encourage the invasion of their territories for soy farming. Already, some are pointing to forest loss advancing near one Indigenous land following efforts to curtail the agreement. Meanwhile, a few Indigenous leaders are seeing an economic opportunity as companies pull out of the agreement. Members in communities that sell soy farmed on their lands say they already do so sustainably and that the agreement unfairly penalizes their product. Mongabay spoke with stakeholders across various sectors, from Indigenous leaders and corporate entities, to conservationists and government officials — people across Brazil’s political spectrum — to get their take on what the possible dissolution of the moratorium may mean for Indigenous peoples and their lands in the Amazon. A section of the Amazon rainforest stands next to soy fields in Belterra, Para state, Brazil, on Nov. 30, 2019. Image by AP Photo/Leo Correa. The moratorium is a voluntary pact between companies, public agencies and NGOs to reduce deforestation in the Amazon. Participants agree to ban from their supply chains any soy produced in areas of the Amazon deforested after July 2008. While the expansion of soy farms grew by 361% from 2006 to 2023 as farmers prioritized converting already cleared lands, fresh deforestation in the Amazon for soy farms dramatically dropped to 1% in the first 10 years after the agreement came into force in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/concern-among-indigenous-leaders-relief-for-a-few-as-amazon-soy-moratorium-falters/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>New mapping approach predicts habitat availability for species conservation</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/new-mapping-approach-predicts-habitat-availability-for-species-conservation/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/new-mapping-approach-predicts-habitat-availability-for-species-conservation/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 16:40:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Abhishyant Kidangoor]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abhishyantkidangoor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/03163902/e.-Rhett-Butler-india_165187-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315137</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Conservation Technology, data, Environment, Habitat, Mapping, Technology, Technology And Conservation, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Wildtech]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Where are habitats available for threatened species? Are they improving or deteriorating? What landscapes could potentially be used for rewilding animals? A new modeling framework has combined years of remote sensing, field data and inputs from experts to map habitat availability for four species and find answers to these questions. The Act Green project, led [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Where are habitats available for threatened species? Are they improving or deteriorating? What landscapes could potentially be used for rewilding animals? A new modeling framework has combined years of remote sensing, field data and inputs from experts to map habitat availability for four species and find answers to these questions. The Act Green project, led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and funded by NASA, has used these distinct data sources to visualize not only where species exist at present, but also to predict potential habitats to be considered for restoration and rewilding efforts. The updateable maps can help conservationists and ecologists identify areas that require urgent conservation attention while also pointing them in the direction of intact landscapes where species could be introduced. “We are trying to integrate the richness of expert opinion with remote sensing and modern computational technology to get dynamic maps at very large spatial scales,” Gautam Surya, conservation planning scientist at WCS and co-principal investigator of the project, told Mongabay in a video interview. Mapping a species’ range of habitats is crucial to understand its distribution and assessing where to direct funding for targeted conservation and species reintroduction efforts. It’s even more crucial against the backdrop of the Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to protect 30% of the world’s ecosystems by 2030, a mission that requires nuanced data on available habitats around the world. “Decision-makers need to figure out how to spend their very scarce resources most effectively and in real time,” Rachel Neugarten, executive&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/new-mapping-approach-predicts-habitat-availability-for-species-conservation/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>China’s Pacific squid fishery rife with labor, fishing abuses: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/chinas-pacific-squid-fishery-rife-with-labor-fishing-abuses-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/chinas-pacific-squid-fishery-rife-with-labor-fishing-abuses-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 15:47:41 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Francesco De Augustinis]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rebecca Kessler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/03141824/39-with-seabird-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315118</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Chile, China, East Asia, Ecuador, Global, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Cruelty, Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Crime, Environment, Environmental Crime, Environmental Law, Fish, Fisheries, Fishing, Forced labor, Illegal Fishing, Law, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Biodiversity, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Overfishing, Saltwater Fish, Wildlife, Wildlife Conservation, and Wildlife Crime]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Labor abuses including violence, debt bondage and withheld wages and medical care, overfishing, shark finning, marine mammal killings: A new report exposes bad practices and a weak regulatory framework governing the jumbo flying squid fishery in the Southeast Pacific Ocean. The report was launched on Feb. 19, just days before the annual meeting of the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Labor abuses including violence, debt bondage and withheld wages and medical care, overfishing, shark finning, marine mammal killings: A new report exposes bad practices and a weak regulatory framework governing the jumbo flying squid fishery in the Southeast Pacific Ocean. The report was launched on Feb. 19, just days before the annual meeting of the commission of the South Pacific Regional Fishery Management Organisation (SPRFMO), the intergovernmental body that manages the fishery. The report drew on interviews with 81 fishers, mainly Indonesian sailors who worked between 2021 and 2025 on 60 Chinese vessels targeting jumbo flying squid (Dosidicus gigas) in the region. “Our interviews revealed that these vessels are engaged in widespread fisheries abuses and labor abuses,” Dominic Thomson, head of the investigation for U.K.-based NGO the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), told Mongabay. Jumbo flying squid, also known as Humboldt squid, are large-bodied animals averaging 50 to 80 centimeters (20 to 31 inches) in length. They concentrate in the South Pacific Ocean, off the coast of South America, where they play a key mid-trophic role in the marine ecosystem, serving both as a predator of smaller species and as prey for sharks, swordfish, sperm whales, dolphins and other marine life. The species is among the most commercially important squid species, accounting for about 30% of global squid landings. The fishery involves South American countries fishing mainly within their exclusive economic zones (EEZs): Ecuador, Chile and Peru. The latter has for decades been the world&#8217;s leading producer. In the last decade,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/chinas-pacific-squid-fishery-rife-with-labor-fishing-abuses-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/chinas-pacific-squid-fishery-rife-with-labor-fishing-abuses-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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					<title>Birds are changing — and Indigenous memory is the longest record we have</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/birds-are-changing-and-indigenous-memory-is-the-longest-record-we-have/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/birds-are-changing-and-indigenous-memory-is-the-longest-record-we-have/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 15:37:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/02034439/Royal-Flycatcher-16x9-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315034</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Anthropology, Biodiversity, Birds, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Forests, Green, Indigenous Communities, Indigenous Cultures, Indigenous Peoples, Monitoring, Rainforests, Research, Traditional Knowledge, Tropical Forests, Wildlife, and Wildlife Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Conservation has long depended on measurement. Populations are counted, habitats mapped, trends plotted against baselines that often extend back only a few decades. Yet many ecosystems began changing long before systematic monitoring began. In much of the world, the longest continuous records of environmental change reside not in databases but in memory, language, and daily [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Conservation has long depended on measurement. Populations are counted, habitats mapped, trends plotted against baselines that often extend back only a few decades. Yet many ecosystems began changing long before systematic monitoring began. In much of the world, the longest continuous records of environmental change reside not in databases but in memory, language, and daily practice. A growing body of research suggests that these forms of knowledge are not merely anecdotal supplements to science; they can reveal patterns otherwise invisible, including shifts in species composition, behavior, and condition. A recent global study illustrates the point with clearly. Researchers worked with ten Indigenous and local communities across three continents, asking adults to recall the most common birds around their territories today and during their childhoods. The survey produced nearly 7,000 reports covering 283 species over roughly eighty years. When matched with scientific data on body size, the responses indicated a consistent shift toward smaller-bodied birds, amounting to an estimated 72% reduction in average body mass across sites. Locations of the 10 study sites. Figure from Fernández-Llamazares, Á. et al. (2025) This finding echoes scientific literature documenting widespread avian decline. Long-term studies in tropical forests, for example, have recorded large drops in abundance even in areas with little direct disturbance, with capture rates in some Amazonian sites falling by about half over two decades. What is striking in the new work is not only the pattern itself but the method. The signal emerges from lived experience accumulated across generations, a type of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/birds-are-changing-and-indigenous-memory-is-the-longest-record-we-have/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Brazilian police seize more than 1.5 metric tons of shark fins</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/brazilian-police-seize-more-than-1-5-metric-tons-of-shark-fins/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/brazilian-police-seize-more-than-1-5-metric-tons-of-shark-fins/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 07:14:13 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Karla MendesShanna Hanbury]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/03071001/WhatsApp-Image-2026-02-19-at-09.25.20-3-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315111</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Atlantic Ocean and Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Brazilian authorities seized more than 1.5 metric tons of shark fins in Rodelas, Bahia state, on Feb. 12, uncovering what they allege is a Chinese run syndicate. They arrested seven people, including three Chinese nationals, in the raid at a rural processing site. Shark species such as the vulnerable Atlantic nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Brazilian authorities seized more than 1.5 metric tons of shark fins in Rodelas, Bahia state, on Feb. 12, uncovering what they allege is a Chinese run syndicate. They arrested seven people, including three Chinese nationals, in the raid at a rural processing site. Shark species such as the vulnerable Atlantic nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum) and the near-threatened blue shark (Prionace glauca) are likely among the target species, IBAMA, the federal environment agency, told Mongabay. Genetic tests to confirm that are underway. “[Shark finning] is extremely cruel, because the fins are torn off, the animals are mutilated alive and thrown back into the sea so they don’t take up space on the vessel, since these criminals are interested only in the fins,” federal police agent Micael Andrade, told national TV station Globo. “The animal is discarded and agonizes and dies. Because it cannot move, it sinks. It cannot feed itself. It really is an extremely cruel practice.” Authorities said the suspects, including a teenager, will face charges including crimes against wildlife, receiving stolen goods and corruption of a minor. Shark fins and suspects during the raid at a rural processing site. Image courtesy of Brazilian Federal Police. Andrade said the three Chinese suspects were likely coordinating the scheme. “It became clear that only the Chinese men were in fact part of the international shark fin trading network,” he said. “They [the four Brazilian suspects] were poor workers earning daily wages to make some money. They did not even know how the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/brazilian-police-seize-more-than-1-5-metric-tons-of-shark-fins/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Local communities are conservation’s most undervalued asset (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/local-communities-are-conservations-most-undervalued-asset-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/local-communities-are-conservations-most-undervalued-asset-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Mar 2026 00:08:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Damian BellJosé MonteiroMonicah MbibaMoreangels Mbizah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/07210434/restoration-workers-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315067</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Conservation Finance, Environment, Finance, Governance, and philanthropy]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[African conservation stakeholders will soon gather for the 5th Business of Conservation Congress in Nairobi, led by African Leadership University. As they build the case for investing in nature-based business, the focus is on markets, enterprise models and blended finance. However, a crucial question remains: what actually makes conservation investable, resilient and scalable? Conservation has [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[African conservation stakeholders will soon gather for the 5th Business of Conservation Congress in Nairobi, led by African Leadership University. As they build the case for investing in nature-based business, the focus is on markets, enterprise models and blended finance. However, a crucial question remains: what actually makes conservation investable, resilient and scalable? Conservation has attracted significant funding, and yet biodiversity loss and climate change continue to accelerate. As new financial tools are discussed and refined, it is also worth reflecting — as a network of conservation funders and doers — on whether the money poured in through the last 30 years has worked; whether we have solved the problems; and whether the current operating model will carry us through the next 30. The problem is not a lack of commitment or capital; it is a misreading of how conservation works in practice. In our experience, community-led conservation is more efficient and resilient than traditional top-down models because it places authority closer to those who depend directly on the land. By embedding rules within locally legitimate institutions, it reduces enforcement and transaction costs and strengthens compliance through social trust. A recent analysis of wildlife management areas (WMAs) is a good example. Pastoral communities in Tanzania’s Tarangire ecosystem use WMAs to defend their land and livelihoods, even without full devolution of management rights, showing how conservation can serve local interests while protecting wildlife habitat. If community-led models are genuinely more efficient, that advantage should be visible in how conservation is delivered&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/local-communities-are-conservations-most-undervalued-asset-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>World’s smallest possum may live beyond its known range in Australia</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/worlds-smallest-possum-may-live-beyond-its-known-range-in-australia/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/worlds-smallest-possum-may-live-beyond-its-known-range-in-australia/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Mar 2026 21:43:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Megan Strauss]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/04035645/possum-aus-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315106</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Endangered Species and Marsupials]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[New evidence of the world’s smallest possum has emerged hundreds of kilometers from where it&#8217;s known to occur in southern Australia — a finding that potentially extends the range of this locally threatened species. Pygmy possums are a group of tiny, mouse-sized marsupials that live in open woodlands, heathlands and scrub. They feed on nectar, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[New evidence of the world’s smallest possum has emerged hundreds of kilometers from where it&#8217;s known to occur in southern Australia — a finding that potentially extends the range of this locally threatened species. Pygmy possums are a group of tiny, mouse-sized marsupials that live in open woodlands, heathlands and scrub. They feed on nectar, pollen and insects, and play a crucial ecological role as pollinators. Yorke Peninsula in the state of South Australia is the traditional land of the Narungga people and was a known habitat for the western pygmy possum (Cercartetus concinnus). Now, a new study published in the journal Australian Zoologist suggests the rare and cryptic little pygmy possum (Cercartetus lepidus) may live there too. Researchers revisited photographic data from wildlife surveys conducted between 2004 and 2011 in Dhilba Guuranda–Innes National Park, an important remnant patch of native vegetation at the tip of the peninsula. Among observations of more than 250 pygmy possums, two photographed in 2006 stood out: these possums were smaller, with distinctive gray belly fur. They were initially labeled as juvenile western pygmy possums because there were no existing records of other pygmy possum species in the area; the closest known population of little pygmy possums is on Kangaroo Island, which has been isolated from the Yorke Peninsula for 10,000 years. However, the researchers hypothesized that the two observations were misidentified, so they compared the photos with specimens kept at the South Australian Museum. They concluded that these were indeed little pygmy possums. “About&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/worlds-smallest-possum-may-live-beyond-its-known-range-in-australia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Deadly landfill collapse exposes risks faced by Philippines’ waste pickers</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/deadly-landfill-collapse-exposes-risks-faced-by-philippines-waste-pickers/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/deadly-landfill-collapse-exposes-risks-faced-by-philippines-waste-pickers/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Mar 2026 18:22:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Michael Beltran]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/02180015/Scavengers-dressed-in-typical-work-clothes-unprotected-from-checmicals-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315087</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Philippines, and Southeast Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Health, Human Rights, Public Health, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[RODRIGUEZ, Philippines — Lenny* recalled freezing when he saw the first heap of garbage collapse underneath the feet of his fellow scavengers on the afternoon of Feb. 20, at a landfill in the town of Rodriguez, in the Philippines’ Rizal province. Moments later, a larger perimeter caved. In an instant, a crater of trash had [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[RODRIGUEZ, Philippines — Lenny* recalled freezing when he saw the first heap of garbage collapse underneath the feet of his fellow scavengers on the afternoon of Feb. 20, at a landfill in the town of Rodriguez, in the Philippines’ Rizal province. Moments later, a larger perimeter caved. In an instant, a crater of trash had swallowed up hundreds of people. Scavengers aren’t technically employed by the landfill and are charged 50 pesos (about $1) as a weekly entrance fee. Armed with nothing more than T-shirts wrapped around their faces, they sift through the trash collected from nearby Metro Manila, looking for plastic and metal items they can sell to local junk shops by the kilo for recycling. According to Lenny (who asked not to use his real name for fear of reprisal) and other eyewitnesses, after the collapse, the landfill management ordered the dumping of more garbage and the bulldozing the surrounding debris to create a path downward. That ended up trapping dozens of scavengers under the trash. Mark Delos Reyes, spokesman for International Solid Waste Integrated Management Specialist (ISWIMS), the private company operating the landfill, denied that additional waste was dumped immediately after the trash slide. “All dumping was immediately halted. Any truck or equipment movement they saw in the area was strictly for our emergency search and retrieval operations, not waste disposal.” When Lenny spoke to Mongabay, more than 48 hours after the incident, his cousin was still missing. He said he was unaware there was any search&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/deadly-landfill-collapse-exposes-risks-faced-by-philippines-waste-pickers/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>America’s national parks face an uncertain future as climate risks mount</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/americas-national-parks-face-an-uncertain-future-as-climate-risks-mount/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/americas-national-parks-face-an-uncertain-future-as-climate-risks-mount/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Mar 2026 17:21:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/28172224/yosemite_141024-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315008</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Drought, Environment, Fires, Forest Fires, Fragmentation, Green, Impact Of Climate Change, Megafires, National Parks, Parks, Protected Areas, and wildfires]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[&#160; America’s national parks were conceived as sanctuaries from the forces remaking the rest of the continent. Climate change is now breaching that boundary. A recent assessment of park vulnerability suggests that many of these landscapes are not simply warming or drying in familiar ways. They are being pushed toward ecological states that may be [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[&nbsp; America’s national parks were conceived as sanctuaries from the forces remaking the rest of the continent. Climate change is now breaching that boundary. A recent assessment of park vulnerability suggests that many of these landscapes are not simply warming or drying in familiar ways. They are being pushed toward ecological states that may be fundamentally different from those they were created to preserve. The study, published in Conservation Letters, evaluates 259 park units across the contiguous United States using a framework common in climate science: exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity. Exposure measures the scale of climatic change; sensitivity captures how strongly ecosystems respond; adaptive capacity reflects the ability of landscapes and species to adjust. Taken together, these dimensions describe not just how much parks will change, but how likely they are to experience transformation. By that measure, vulnerability is widespread. Two-thirds of parks were identified as highly exposed to at least one potentially transformative threat, including wildfire, drought, forest pests, or sea-level rise. In total, 77% ranked as highly vulnerable either overall or to a specific high-impact hazard. The implication is not that all parks face catastrophe, but that few can expect stability. Priority parks at the national scale, which were identified as those ranking at or above the 75th percentile in total cumulative vulnerability scores. Caption and image from Michalak et al (2026). Geography matters. Parks in the Midwest and eastern United States tend to have the highest cumulative vulnerability. These landscapes are often embedded within heavily modified&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/americas-national-parks-face-an-uncertain-future-as-climate-risks-mount/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>‘An epidemic of suffering’: Why are conservationists breaking down?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/an-epidemic-of-suffering-why-are-conservationists-breaking-down/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/an-epidemic-of-suffering-why-are-conservationists-breaking-down/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Mar 2026 16:57:44 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Morgan Erickson-Davis]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/02/27012413/e.-usfws-turnbull-nwr-waterfowl-surveys-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314942</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Activism, Climate, Climate Change, Conservation, Conservation Philosophy, Environment, Environmental Activism, Funding, Gender and Conservation, Health, and Psychology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In December 2024, Rachel Graham, executive director of the Belize-based marine nonprofit MarAlliance, posted on LinkedIn that she knew “5 wildlife &#38; conservation scientists who have taken their lives this year so far.” She called it a “crisis” that needed tackling. The post went viral, garnering about 18,000 impressions and 45 comments. “I&#8217;m seeing a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In December 2024, Rachel Graham, executive director of the Belize-based marine nonprofit MarAlliance, posted on LinkedIn that she knew “5 wildlife &amp; conservation scientists who have taken their lives this year so far.” She called it a “crisis” that needed tackling. The post went viral, garnering about 18,000 impressions and 45 comments. “I&#8217;m seeing a true crisis in the conservation community,” Graham tells Mongabay. People become conservationists because they care, Graham says, but that can also lead to huge mental health problems in an age of biodiversity decline, climate change and environmental distress. Add to that the perils of the sector — often low wages, poor job security, overworking, dependence on fickle grants and burnout — and you have a ripe recipe for mental health issues. “If your identity is inextricably linked [to a mission], then when this is imperiled, the threat becomes very personal,” Graham says. “That, to me, I think, is really one of the biggest cruxes of the problem that we&#8217;re seeing right now in conservation.” Dr. Rachel Graham is a marine conservation scientist and founder of the international nonprofit MarAlliance. Based in Central America for three decades, she works across sectors to advance conservation of threatened marine wildlife while supporting sustainable fisheries and coastal livelihoods. Partnering with fishers, she has helped pioneer co-created shark research and management approaches that strengthen policy, local stewardship, and income opportunities. Her demand- and management-driven research on sharks, rays, and finfish has informed protected area designations, species protections, and fisheries policy&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/an-epidemic-of-suffering-why-are-conservationists-breaking-down/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Mongabay launches new desk reporting on, with and for Indigenous communities</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/mongabay-launches-new-desk-reporting-on-with-and-for-indigenous-communities/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/mongabay-launches-new-desk-reporting-on-with-and-for-indigenous-communities/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Mar 2026 16:47:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Hayat Indriyatno]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/03113835/MONTEGRANDE-7415-scaled-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315069</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Communities and Indigenous Peoples]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous peoples play a critical role in protecting nature and stemming biodiversity loss worldwide, yet their perspectives and knowledge remain underrepresented in national and international media coverage of environmental issues. While this gap is evident in environmental reporting, it reflects a broader structural issue across mainstream media and society at large. In response, Mongabay established [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous peoples play a critical role in protecting nature and stemming biodiversity loss worldwide, yet their perspectives and knowledge remain underrepresented in national and international media coverage of environmental issues. While this gap is evident in environmental reporting, it reflects a broader structural issue across mainstream media and society at large. In response, Mongabay established an Indigenous Desk to expand journalism that centers diverse Indigenous perspectives. The desk addresses long-standing shortcomings in environmental reporting by engaging Indigenous peoples as both sources and journalists, producing original coverage on, with and for Indigenous communities worldwide. Representatives of the Awyu and Moi Indigenous Peoples from West Papua visit the Supreme Court building in traditional dress, where they will hold prayers, rituals, as well as perform traditional dances. They also bring a piece of their customary land as a symbol to be handed over to the Supreme Court. Their demonstration will call on the Supreme Court to revoke the permits of two palm oil companies in Boven Digoel and Sorong which threaten customary forests, which in total cover more than half of Jakarta province. Papuan students and other civil society groups will also be present to support the struggle of the Awyu and Moi peoples. Image courtesy of © Jurnasyanto Sukarno / Greenpeace. “Our goal is to ensure Indigenous people are included as primary sources of information in Mongabay’s reporting and to open space to work with Indigenous journalists and outlets,” says Willie Shubert, Mongabay’s executive editor and VP of programs. “This is our&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/mongabay-launches-new-desk-reporting-on-with-and-for-indigenous-communities/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/mongabay-launches-new-desk-reporting-on-with-and-for-indigenous-communities/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
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					<title>Lawsuit targets TotalEnergies over fossil fuel expansion and Paris Agreement goals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/lawsuit-targets-totalenergies-over-fossil-fuel-expansion-and-paris-agreement-goals/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/lawsuit-targets-totalenergies-over-fossil-fuel-expansion-and-paris-agreement-goals/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Mar 2026 15:48:57 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elodie Toto]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Bobbybascomb]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/02152228/7A038F70-B795-45C3-8DBB-2C311656B110_1_201_a-1-scaled-e1772465022114-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315063</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[France]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Climate Change, Climate Change Politics, Energy, Gas, Infrastructure, and Oil]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A French court has begun hearing a lawsuit against oil and gas giant TotalEnergies over its growing portfolio of fossil fuel projects worldwide. The case being heard before the Paris Court of Justice was brought by a coalition of 14 French cities, including Paris, and five civil society organizations. They assert that TotalEnergies must take [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A French court has begun hearing a lawsuit against oil and gas giant TotalEnergies over its growing portfolio of fossil fuel projects worldwide. The case being heard before the Paris Court of Justice was brought by a coalition of 14 French cities, including Paris, and five civil society organizations. They assert that TotalEnergies must take action to align its activities with the 1.5°C (2.7°F) target of the Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty adopted at the COP21 U.N. climate summit in Paris in 2015, to avoid the worst outcomes of climate change. The suit targets TotalEnergies because the company is linked to the largest number of new fossil fuel projects worldwide, including 30 so-called carbon bombs — projects whose emissions threaten global efforts to keep warming within the 1.5°C target. A proposed liquefied natural gas project in Papua New Guinea, for instance, would contribute more than 220 million metric tons of CO2 emissions over its lifetime, experts say. “Total continues to develop new oil and gas projects all over the world. This is clearly incompatible with the Paris Agreement and with the findings of the IPCC reports, as well as those of the International Energy Agency, which call for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions,” Justine Ripoll, campaign manager at Notre Affaire à Tous, one of the organizations that brought the lawsuit, told Mongabay by phone. Other TotalEnergies projects in Tanzania, Uganda and Mozambique aren’t targeted in the lawsuit as they’re considered already too advanced. “What we are specifically&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/lawsuit-targets-totalenergies-over-fossil-fuel-expansion-and-paris-agreement-goals/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Sustainable trade in wild plants benefits people and planet (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/sustainable-trade-in-wild-plants-benefits-people-and-planet-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/sustainable-trade-in-wild-plants-benefits-people-and-planet-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Mar 2026 15:13:34 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Richard Scobey]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/02145620/cordyceps-harvest_Sushil-Mainali_ANSAB-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315053</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Commentary, Conservation, Economics, Environment, Food, Forest Products, Global Trade, International Trade, Medicinal Plants, Nutrition, Plants, and Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Every day, millions of people harvest wild plants for their health, nutrition and livelihoods, yet many of the species that sustain them are quietly slipping toward extinction. As World Wildlife Day approaches this March 3, medicinal and aromatic plants take center stage: a group of wild species essential to both human well-being and ecological balance, they [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Every day, millions of people harvest wild plants for their health, nutrition and livelihoods, yet many of the species that sustain them are quietly slipping toward extinction. As World Wildlife Day approaches this March 3, medicinal and aromatic plants take center stage: a group of wild species essential to both human well-being and ecological balance, they are too often overlooked in global conservation conversations. These plants grow in the wild and are harvested for their healing and well-being properties. They are widely used in modern and traditional medicines, cosmetic and food products, and the World Health Organization notes their particular importance in developing countries, where up to 95% of people rely on traditional medicine for primary health care. Furthermore, according to the Intergovernmental Science–Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), “Wild plants, algae and fungi provide food, nutritional diversity and income for an estimated one in five people around the world, in particular women, children, landless farmers and others in vulnerable situations.” Many familiar species — such as American ginseng, licorice, argan, candelilla and frankincense — are part of our daily lives, found in kitchen cupboards, medicine cabinets and bathrooms, although mostly hidden from view. But global conservation assessments have only been carried out for a fraction of the many thousands of medicinal and aromatic plants in use. Of those that have been assessed, many are threatened with extinction due to overharvesting, and it is likely this is only the tip of the iceberg. View a report about sustainable harvesting of star anise in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/sustainable-trade-in-wild-plants-benefits-people-and-planet-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Search for Brazil flood survivors continues as death toll rises to 64</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/search-for-brazil-flood-survivors-continues-as-death-toll-rises-to-64/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/search-for-brazil-flood-survivors-continues-as-death-toll-rises-to-64/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Mar 2026 15:01:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Associated Press]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/02145837/AP26056547921715-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?post_type=short-article&#038;p=315056</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Brazil]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Extreme Weather and Flooding]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Landslides and flooding in Brazil’s Minas Gerais that have been state triggered by days of heavy rains have claimed the lives of 64 people, authorities say. Downpours that started late Monday have wreaked havoc across parts of the cities of Juiz de Fora and Uba, about 310 kilometers (192 miles) north of Rio de [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Landslides and flooding in Brazil’s Minas Gerais that have been state triggered by days of heavy rains have claimed the lives of 64 people, authorities say. Downpours that started late Monday have wreaked havoc across parts of the cities of Juiz de Fora and Uba, about 310 kilometers (192 miles) north of Rio de Janeiro. Throughout the week, rescuers have been assisting victims and recovering bodies. Minas Gerais’s fire department said five people are missing, while more than 5,500 people have been forced to leave their homes. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will visit the devastated region on Saturday to meet with local leaders, according to a statement from the presidential palace. The federal government has authorized the release of around 3.4 million reais ($660,000) for reconstruction efforts and humanitarian assistance. Nearly a quarter of Juiz de Fora’s population — around 540,000 people — live in places that have been identified as being at risk of natural hazards related to land and water, according to a 2023 report by Cemaden, a Brazilian government agency that monitors natural disasters. Brazil’s meteorology institute, Inmet, has warned of a “great danger” of more bad weather in parts of Minas Gerais as well as other Brazilian states, including Rio and Sao Paulo. Those areas are all at risk of landslides, river overflows and major flooding, forecasters said. Footage from Thursday evening showed torrents of brown water flowing through tourist hot spot and old colonial town Paraty, also in southeastern Brazil. Authorities told residents to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/03/search-for-brazil-flood-survivors-continues-as-death-toll-rises-to-64/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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						<item>
					<title>Can Kenya finally deliver on Turkana’s oil promise?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/can-kenya-finally-deliver-on-turkanas-oil-promise/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/can-kenya-finally-deliver-on-turkanas-oil-promise/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Mar 2026 13:13:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Christopher Clark]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Terna Gyuse]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/02130209/061A2973_TurkanaKenya_ChristopherClark-BANNER-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315045</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, East Africa, and Kenya]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conflict, Corporations, Energy, Environment, Governance, Government, Industry, Oil, and Oil Drilling]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[LOKICHAR, Kenya — On a recent Sunday afternoon in Lokichar, a small town in Kenya’s northern Turkana region, the expansive grounds of the Black Gold Hotel are deserted, aside from a couple of housekeepers seeking shade in the leafy courtyard beside the conference center. Just beyond the hotel gates, a four-lane highway linking Lokichar to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[LOKICHAR, Kenya — On a recent Sunday afternoon in Lokichar, a small town in Kenya’s northern Turkana region, the expansive grounds of the Black Gold Hotel are deserted, aside from a couple of housekeepers seeking shade in the leafy courtyard beside the conference center. Just beyond the hotel gates, a four-lane highway linking Lokichar to the nearby regional capital of Lodwar is similarly empty. A long-promised oil boom remains stubbornly on the horizon. In 2010, the Anglo-Irish firm Tullow Oil PLC discovered oil deposits estimated at more than 500 million barrels in the arid landscapes surrounding Lokichar. Hailed as a major breakthrough by then-president Mwai Kibaki, this was meant to usher in a new era of prosperity for Turkana and its people, whose history of systemic neglect dates back to the colonial era. A wave of internal migration and a frantic construction boom followed in the remote pastoralist trading town. But after more than a decade of setbacks and spiraling debt, Tullow effectively halted its operations in 2020, leaving behind a trail of stalled infrastructure and lingering uncertainty. A Nairobi-based petroleum trader, Gulf Energy Ltd., acquired Tullow’s entire Turkana stake in a $120 million transaction finalized in September 2025, with the Kenyan government retaining a 25% stake. The company has since pledged to invest approximately $6 billion in developing Turkana’s oil fields. At a parliamentary committee hearing in early February, the company&#8217;s chairperson, Francis Njogu, said the firm aims to begin commercial production by Dec. 1 this year, signaling a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/can-kenya-finally-deliver-on-turkanas-oil-promise/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Guinea-Bissau’s transitional government bans fish meal production</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/guinea-bissaus-transitional-government-bans-fish-meal-production/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/guinea-bissaus-transitional-government-bans-fish-meal-production/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Mar 2026 11:18:43 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Josef Skrdlik]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavikavyawahare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/02094133/Image-de-banniere-Huan-Xin-17-5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315038</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Guinea-Bissau, and West Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Deep Sea, Economy, Environment, Fish, Governance, Government, and Illegal Fishing]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau — This small West African nation, whose mangrove-fringed coastal waters and expansive estuaries are important spawning grounds for fish species that migrate along the West African coast, long appeared to have little do with fish meal production, an activity that was booming in other parts of the region. Yet, even though satellite imagery [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau — This small West African nation, whose mangrove-fringed coastal waters and expansive estuaries are important spawning grounds for fish species that migrate along the West African coast, long appeared to have little do with fish meal production, an activity that was booming in other parts of the region. Yet, even though satellite imagery showed no recognisable fish meal plants, fish meal of Guinea-Bissau origin was being advertised for sale online. Then, on Jan. 29, the country’s transitional government, installed in the aftermath of the November 2025 coup, issued an all-out ban on fish meal production with immediate effect, saying that “the production of fish meal and fish oil has been proliferating in the country.” Interviews with officials, operators involved in the sector and drone imagery, combined with the analysis of marine traffic data, show that fish meal was being produced in Guinea Bissau. Most of it was not on land but at sea. The extent of the operations’ legality remains unclear, but records seen by Mongabay show that vessels operating the offshore factories were licensed by the ministry of fisheries and as of 2025, at least one of them was authorized to produce fish meal. According to data from Global Fishing Watch, a U.S.-based NGO that publicly tracks fishing activity, the 147 meters (482 feet) long vessel Tian Yi He 6 entered Guinea-Bissau’s waters in October 2019 and was followed by Hua Xin 17, a 125 m (410 ft) long vessel, in May 2024. Tian Yi He 6&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/guinea-bissaus-transitional-government-bans-fish-meal-production/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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					<title>Displaced for conservation, South Africa’s Thonga try to keep a fishing tradition alive</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/displaced-for-conservation-south-africas-thonga-try-to-keep-unique-fishing-traditions-alive/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/displaced-for-conservation-south-africas-thonga-try-to-keep-unique-fishing-traditions-alive/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Mar 2026 07:00:29 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Leonie Joubert]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Latoya Abulu]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/27215054/Untitled-design2-scaled-e1772229209857-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=314980</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, South Africa, and Southern Africa]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Fish and Fisheries]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[KOSI BAY, South Africa — “There’s a way to hold the spear,” Fano Tembe says, aiming a traditional fishing spear at the sand to show the tourists how they’ll be stabbing a fish in a trap they’re about to visit. “This is your aiming hand.” He cradles the middle of the pole in his left, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[KOSI BAY, South Africa — “There’s a way to hold the spear,” Fano Tembe says, aiming a traditional fishing spear at the sand to show the tourists how they’ll be stabbing a fish in a trap they’re about to visit. “This is your aiming hand.” He cradles the middle of the pole in his left, palm-up, fingers open. “The other is your throwing hand.” His right clutches the top of the spear at shoulder height. “You don’t push the spear, you throw it.” The tool becomes a javelin, skewering the sand. The 28-year-old has been spearing fish since he was a boy. Now he’s employed by a local tour operator introducing the visitors to his peoples’ Thonga-style fishing method in Kosi Bay, a remote estuary and four-lake system on South Africa’s east coast, about four kilometers (2.5 miles) south of the Mozambican border. For this demonstration, Tembe is a giant, standing over a tiny, meticulously built model of a fish trap, explaining how the Thonga people have used this unique method to harvest fish for over four centuries, according to written records, although locals will say it goes back more than 700 years. Be wary of the mullets (Mugil cephalus), Tembe warns. “When they get tired, they hide between your feet. Don’t try to spear that fish [then].” Mthokozisi Nsele comes from a long line of Thonga fisher people with knowledge of the spear and kraal system shown by Fano Tembe (right). He now runs his own two-boat tourism operation&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/displaced-for-conservation-south-africas-thonga-try-to-keep-unique-fishing-traditions-alive/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Justin Claude Rakotoarisoa, a guardian of Madagascar’s amphibians, has died, aged 45</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/justin-claude-rakotoarisoa-a-guardian-of-madagascars-amphibians-has-died-aged-45/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/justin-claude-rakotoarisoa-a-guardian-of-madagascars-amphibians-has-died-aged-45/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Mar 2026 00:04:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rhett Ayers Butler]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/01181835/Justin-Claude-Rakotoarisoa-Project-Leader-de-lAssociation-Mitsinjo-et-membre-fondateur-de-celle-ci-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=315023</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Founder's briefs]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Amphibian Crisis, Amphibians, Animals, Biodiversity, Captive Breeding, Community-based Conservation, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Ex-situ Conservation, Frogs, Green, Herps, In-situ Conservation, Obituary, Reintroductions, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Madagascar, frogs are not background noise. They are a measure of how much forest still functions. The island holds an outsized share of the world’s amphibian diversity, and almost all of its frog species occur nowhere else. That concentration is both a wonder and a warning. When habitat thins, wetlands silt up, or disease [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[In Madagascar, frogs are not background noise. They are a measure of how much forest still functions. The island holds an outsized share of the world’s amphibian diversity, and almost all of its frog species occur nowhere else. That concentration is both a wonder and a warning. When habitat thins, wetlands silt up, or disease arrives, there is often no second refuge on another continent. Conservationists worry about many pressures at once: deforestation, fragmented marshes, wildlife trafficking, and the global spread of chytrid fungus, which has driven amphibian declines on several continents and has been detected in Madagascar. In such a setting, saving a frog can look like a technical exercise. It is also an organizational one. Keeping a species alive may require breeding rooms, quarantine protocols, and a steady supply of insects, plus patient negotiations with local communities and, at times, with the companies reshaping landscapes. Green Bright-eyed Frog (Boophis viridis) near in Andasibe, Madagascar. Photo by Rhett Ayers Butler Justin Claude Rakotoarisoa was born in a village near Andasibe, an area inhabited by the indri lemur, whose haunting, whale-like song carries through the forest. As a young man he trained as a guide, part of a generation that saw ecotourism as a way to earn a living without dismantling the forest that drew visitors. Mitsinjo, the community organization he joined in the late 1990s, began as a local effort to manage a forest station and channel tourist income into conservation and development. It became more than that. As&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/justin-claude-rakotoarisoa-a-guardian-of-madagascars-amphibians-has-died-aged-45/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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